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The Guardians step into Infinity, with a very enjoyable issue full of the usual Bendis blend of great dialogue and fun action scenes, as well as some brilliant art from Francesco Francavilla. You wouldn’t think his style would work for a space book, but it does.

We begin with the Guardians learning about Thanos’ attack on Earth, and arguing about what they should do. Gamora wants to attack right away, but Star-Lord is more cautious. Bendis then does something that will please a lot of old-school (well, DNA-era) Guardians fans, he moves even closer to explaining what went on inside the Cancerverse. Gamora asks him why he and Drax and Nova didn’t just kill Thanos when they had the chance. Whilst we don’t get any concrete answers here, I can just feel that an answer is coming soon, and when it does… oh man, I’m excited. Star-Lord deflects, and asks why Gamora didn’t kill her ‘father’ when she lived with him. Gamora is understandably pissed off, and flies off on her own, presumably to try and kill Thanos herself.

The rest of the Guardians meanwhile are contacted by Agent Brand of SWORD, and are tasked with saving her from Thanos’ forces that have overran The Peak Station. This is a stealth-mission, so Groot and Drax won’t be much use, so it’s basically just Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon Vs a whole army. They bust in, rescue Brand, and start taking names. I very much enjoyed these action sequences, the in-fight banter was top notch (an actually good Star Wars reference!) and Bendis even made fun of the whole ‘Murdered You!’ catchphrase thing that Rocket has going on.

But really, 2 people and a Raccoon-thing don’t really stand a chance against all these aliens, and our heroes are quickly surrounded. Star-Lord calls for Drax and Groot to help out, but their ship has been discovered and they can’t help. But something does come to the rescue, or rather, someone, as Angela blasts into the room and saves the day. I was actually surprised to see her show up, as I expected her to be gone for a longer than 21 pages, but I suppose Gaiman was still listed as a consultant, so I should have expected it. Either way, it’s a cool moment, and a great set-up for next issue.

Francavilla’s artwork, was, as I said, great. His style isn’t really what you’d think of when picking an artist for this book, but it’s always best to try something new, and I think it works here. I especially liked the colouring here, and how he had the yellow on Star-Lord’s costume and the red on Rocket Raccoon’s really stand out. I’m still not really sold on those outfits, but Francavilla is making them work.

I won't lie to you, I picked this issue up solely because of Francesco Francavilla's art and if it were for nothing else, I wouldn't have been disappointed. Francavilla is easily one of my favorite artists in the business today and I think that his style captured these characters perfectly.

Punchy wrote:Bendis then does something that will please a lot of old-school (well, DNA-era) Guardians fans, he moves even closer to explaining what went on inside the Cancerverse. Gamora asks him why he and Drax and Nova didn’t just kill Thanos when they had the chance.

I'll admit, Bendis almost had me with this conversation. Just for a second, I thought that we were finally going to get some answers. Hell, I could have even lived with the fact that we didn't get those answers in this issue if Bendis didn't make one glaring omission from Gamora and Star-Lord's conversation; the fact that neither character mentioned Nova. Not even once. Granted, the relationship had quieted down by the Thanos Imperative but Richard Rider and Gamora were in an intimate relationship for awhile. It was their relationship that inspired Gamora to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in the first place. I would hope that he would cross her mind when she was looking for answers. Plus as far as we know, Richard Rider was the only other living person trapped in the Cancerverse with Star-Lord and Thanos. It sure as hell wasn't Drax and you would think that it would warrant at least some type of reference here.

Speaking of Drax, I am not fond of the way that he has been portrayed since he has returned. When he was reborn prior to Annihilation, I always kinda viewed him as the Marvel universe equivalent to Riddick. Incredibly dangerous and lethal but not a mindless thug. Sure, he could come in the front door guns blazing but he could also sneak around the side through an open window and kill you before you even knew he was in the room. In fact, he was more likely to do the later because he wasn't a mindless oaf. From the dialogue here, I am under the impression that is no longer the case.

Grayson wrote:I won't lie to you, I picked this issue up solely because of Francesco Francavilla's art and if it were for nothing else, I wouldn't have been disappointed. Francavilla is easily one of my favorite artists in the business today and I think that his style captured these characters perfectly.

I'll admit, Bendis almost had me with this conversation. Just for a second, I thought that we were finally going to get some answers. Hell, I could have even lived with the fact that we didn't get those answers in this issue if Bendis didn't make one glaring omission from Gamora and Star-Lord's conversation; the fact that neither character mentioned Nova. Not even once. Granted, the relationship had quieted down by the Thanos Imperative but Richard Rider and Gamora were in an intimate relationship for awhile. It was their relationship that inspired Gamora to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in the first place. I would hope that he would cross her mind when she was looking for answers. Plus as far as we know, Richard Rider was the only other living person trapped in the Cancerverse with Star-Lord and Thanos. It sure as hell wasn't Drax and you would think that it would warrant at least some type of reference here.

Speaking of Drax, I am not fond of the way that he has been portrayed since he has returned. When he was reborn prior to Annihilation, I always kinda viewed him as the Marvel universe equivalent to Riddick. Incredibly dangerous and lethal but not a mindless thug. Sure, he could come in the front door guns blazing but he could also sneak around the side through an open window and kill you before you even knew he was in the room. In fact, he was more likely to do the later because he wasn't a mindless oaf. From the dialogue here, I am under the impression that is no longer the case.

Yeah, I remember how much of a dumb brute they made him in the 90's when he was part of the Infinity Watch.

Draco x wrote:Yeah, I remember how much of a dumb brute they made him in the 90's when he was part of the Infinity Watch.

Perhaps I should have clarified that I wasn't trying to imply that Bendis has turned him into a dumb brute. There was a certain line in this issue about stealth and how Drax wasn't chosen to go on this particular mission because of his lack of it, that makes me believe that Bendis has chosen to take Drax in a less subtle direction than he had been used since his previous return.

Grayson wrote:Perhaps I should have clarified that I wasn't trying to imply that Bendis has turned him into a dumb brute. There was a certain line in this issue about stealth and how Drax wasn't chosen to go on this particular mission because of his lack of it, that makes me believe that Bendis has chosen to take Drax in a less subtle direction than he had been used since his previous return.

Grayson wrote:Perhaps I should have clarified that I wasn't trying to imply that Bendis has turned him into a dumb brute. There was a certain line in this issue about stealth and how Drax wasn't chosen to go on this particular mission because of his lack of it, that makes me believe that Bendis has chosen to take Drax in a less subtle direction than he had been used since his previous return.

This was a major problem for me during DnA's run on GotG. By the end of the series they had thrown out almost everything that Giffen had done with the character and regressed him to the gun toting uncontrollable dummy he was during Infinity Watch. There was zero explanation as to why.

habitual wrote:This was a major problem for me during DnA's run on GotG. By the end of the series they had thrown out almost everything that Giffen had done with the character and regressed him to the gun toting uncontrollable dummy he was during Infinity Watch. There was zero explanation as to why.

Hab

I'd have to go back and reread the previous Guardians of the Galaxy series to be sure but I really don't remember this being an issue until Thanos Imperative. Even then I recall that Drax's actions were motivated by his proximity to Thanos more than anything else. The fact that he was built to destroy Thanos but was forced to work side-by-side with him was literally driving him insane. At least, that's what I took from it.

Grayson wrote:I'd have to go back and reread the previous Guardians of the Galaxy series to be sure but I really don't remember this being an issue until Thanos Imperative. Even then I recall that Drax's actions were motivated by his proximity to Thanos more than anything else. The fact that he was built to destroy Thanos but was forced to work side-by-side with him was literally driving him insane. At least, that's what I took from it.

It was a gradual metamorphosis that started near the end of the run.

At the end he looked like a completely different character and it was entirely disappointing.

Grayson wrote:I won't lie to you, I picked this issue up solely because of Francesco Francavilla's art and if it were for nothing else, I wouldn't have been disappointed. Francavilla is easily one of my favorite artists in the business today and I think that his style captured these characters perfectly.

I have to say I disagree with you on this. Put Francavilla on a horror book and I'm there. His style is just perfect for that genre. After reading this issue, I have to say that I don't like his style in science fiction. It just didn't work for me.

The art was different, maybe even a little distracting. Not bad! Just different. Took some getting used to. As I'm new here, I'm not sure how everyone else feels about her, but Angela popping in to save the day at the end make me squeal. Man, am I excited to have her back in comics, and in one of my favorite comics, no less! I expect her to stick around a while, since she's on the cross over covers with the X-Men later.

Oh! I forgot to mention in my intro! I contribute to GuardTheGalaxy and AvengeTheEarth - the dotted com variety of website- GTG focuses mostly on the movie news, but we review the comic occasionally. Might wanna check it out.